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Reserves and Copyright

Reserve Request Form: Please use this form to list all of the reserve items needed for a particular semester's courses. You can save and send a copy of this form to levon.hudson@uwc.edu by August 15 for Fall semester and January 15 for Spring semester.

UWC Copyright Website: This new UW Colleges' resource contains frequently asked questions about copyright law and how it impacts educational institutions. Specific copyright questions can be directed to the committee members listed on the site.

UW-WC Guidelines for Faculty: Reserves and Electronic Reserves

I. General Statement on Copyright

The UW-WC Library supports and acts in accordance with the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107, which permits the making of copies for classroom use if the four determining factors are considered and found to be in support of fair use. The Fair Use analysis is applied on a case by case basis in each and every instance of copying. Those factors to be considered in determining if the copying is fair use are:

The purpose and character of the use (education is more likely to be fair use: and use that causes the work to be used for a new purpose is more likely to be fair use.)

The nature of the copyrighted work (a fact-based work is more likely to be fair use than a creative fictional work.)

The amount and substantiality of the copied portion compared to the work as a whole (a small portion of the work is more likely to be fair use).

The effect of the use on the potential market (copying that does not cause someone to not buy the whole work is more likely to be fair use).

The Library has also adopted a number of guidelines for Electronic Reserve which were included in the Fair Use Guidelines for Electronic Reserve Systems, developed by participants in the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU). The Library stays abreast of developments with regards to digital copyright laws and guidelines and modify its copyright guidelines for Reserve and Electronic Reserve as needed. See Resources for Copyright Information below for important sites which provide current copyright information.

Material shall be placed on either Reserve or Electronic Reserve at the initiative of the faculty or staff at UWWC solely for the non-commercial, educational use of UWWC students.

Fill out one request form for each item to be placed on Reserve in the Library. Forms are available at the library circulation desk or download and fill out the reserve request form. When signed by the instructor, indication is made that the instructor is following the Copyright Act (title 17 U.S. Code).

Any items already owned by the UWWC Library (including those owned in digital form) may be placed on Course Reserve for a semester without asking for copyright permission.

Allow at least 2 days for the items to be placed on Reserve, and at least 2 weeks for e-Reserves.

The Library will follow the principles of Fair Use when determining if copies should be placed on Reserve or e-Reserve.

A copyright notice will appear on the first page of any scanned document available via electronic reserve. A copyright notice will be stamped on the first page of each document on Reserve. In addition, a copyright notice is affixed to each printer and copy machine located in the Library and computer labs.

Materials on reserve and e-Reserve are available only to current UWWC students.

Students are not charged a fee to access reserve or e-Reserve items. The charge for copies made by students on library printers will be the same as for all other library printing.

Material made available for student use through Reserve or e-Reserve will be removed when it is no longer needed. For example, student access to e-Reserve materials may be terminated at the end of the term.

Longer works, such as complete books, will not be copied for Electronic Reserve, even if the works are in the public domain or otherwise within the scope of the fair use guidelines.

Coursepacks may not be placed on Reserve. Instructors cannot in effect create a coursepack by placing several articles together on reserve under one title. Individual citations must be provided for each item.

Textbooks may be placed on reserve when provided by the instructor.

The library is not responsible for lost personal copies or other items.

III. Guidelines for Fair Use copying or scanning

The library staff may do Fair Use copying or scanning for Reserve or e-Reserve. In general, the staff will use the following guidelines:

Only one journal or newspaper article from each issue may be used.

Not more than a single chapter of a book or work may be used.

Only one chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture per book or journal issue may be used when the entire article or chapter is not used.

IV. Copying or scanning beyond Fair Use guidelines

If an instructor needs material copied or scanned for Reserve or e-Reserve that, in the library staff member’s judgment, exceeds the bounds of the Fair Use Guidelines, then copyright permission must be secured. To complete that process:

The instructor must contact the owner of the copyrighted material to request permission (see below).

While copyright permission is being requested, the Library will temporarily make the material available, pending permission from the copyright owner.

Any fees or charges associated with obtaining copyright permission are the responsibility of the instructor.

Once the instructor has received permission to have the material copied or scanned, evidence of that permission must be forwarded to the Library staff. An e-mail from the copyright holder granting permission is acceptable. Evidence of copyright permission and payment (when applicable) shall be retained by the Library.

The Library staff will comply with the permission parameters that are specified by the copyright holder.

V. How to request copyright permission

Determine the holder of the copyright. In most cases, the copyright owner is the publisher rather than the author. Useful resources for locating publisher addresses and e-mails are listed below.

Once the publisher contact information has been determined, use one of the sample letters provided to request permission from the publisher. Some publishers will accept a request for permission via e-mail, which may provide faster turnaround time for your request.

Any reply from the publisher should be forwarded to the Library staff so that we will know how to proceed. This information will be kept on file in the Library. Any fees associated with obtaining permission are the responsibility of the instructor.

An alternative to contacting the publisher directly is to use the services of the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). The CCC is the largest licenser of text reproduction rights in the world. “Copyright Clearance Center manages the rights to over 1.75 million works and represents more than 9,600 publishers and hundreds of thousands of authors and other creators” (from the CCC web site). Individuals may search the web site to see if the item in question is listed and set up their own account with the CCC. The CCC manages the rights to all the material included in their website and can grant copyright permission in lieu of the publisher.

Fair Use Evaluator is a tool designed to help you better understand how to determine the "fairness" of a use under the U.S. Copyright Code.

The University of Minnesota Libraries also has an easy to use Fair Use Analysis Tool. This site will produce a report for fair use documention.

The WATCH File (Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders) is a database containing primarily, but not exclusively, the names and addresses of copyright holders or contact persons for authors and artists whose archives are housed, in whole or in part, in libraries and archives in North America and the United Kingdom. WATCH is a joint project of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Reading Library, Reading, England.

Sample e-reserve letter (for articles)

I would like your permission, as the holder of copyright for the material listed below, to allow the materials to be scanned by the UW-WC Library and made available via their electronic reserve system to the students in my class.

Materials included in electronic reserve are only accessible to authenticated students and faculty for the duration of the class. The reproduction will faithfully copy the work in its entirety and will include a copyright notice.

Citation of Material to be used:Author(s):Title of article/Chapter:Journal/Book title:Date/Volume/Edition:Chapter(s)/Pages to be scanned:

Thank you for your prompt reply to this request and for assisting in the educational process at the University of Wisconsin – Washington County.

Sample hard-copy reserve letter (print, film, music, etc.)

I would like your permission, as the holder of the copyright for the material listed below, to allow the material to be copied by the UW-WC Library and made available to students in my class through the Libraries' Reserve Desk.

Only one copy of the work will be made by the library staff. Access to this copy will be restricted to the UW-WC community. The reproduction will faithfully copy the work in its entirety and will include a copyright notice.

Citation of material to be used:author(s):title of article/chapter:journal/book title:date/volume/edition:chapter(s)/pages to be scanned:

Thank you for your prompt reply to this request and for assisting in the educational process at the University of Wisconsin - Washington County.